Stuffed Zucchini

I’m not a chef by any stretch of the imagination. I’m just a big guy who likes to eat. Rather than be dependent on someone else to do the cooking for me, I do it myself. This “recipe” is the result of having some rather large zucchini from the garden and being sick of making breaded zucchini (which I’ll probably post at some point). I usually never measure anything so the numbers below are estimates so adjust accordingly to personal taste.

I've included this shot for scale so you can see generally how big of a zucchini we're talking about here.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Wash zucchini thoroughly. Drop it into a large pot of boiling water for about 8 – 10 minutes to par-cook it. (You don’t want to totally cook it otherwise it’ll be soggy in the end so adjust the boiling time according to the size of your particular zucchini.)

Remove from water and set aside to until cool.

Cut the cooled zucchini lengthwise. With a spoon (or melon-baller) remove the pulp and set aside.

Add the zucchini pulp to the onions and garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the wine and bring to a simmer.

Add the pasta sauce and mix well. Bring to a simmer once again then remove from heat.

Add Parmesan and mix well. (Mixture should be quite thick and chunky at this point)

Line a cookie sheet (or baking pan) with parchment paper (or give it a quick spritz with cooking spray). Place both halves of zucchini side by side. If your zucchini wobbles too much, use a sharp knife and slice a plane into the skin side so that it has a flatter surface. Be sure not to cut too deep though. Divide the mixture between the two halves and stuff away.

Divide and top each with the mozzarella cheese.

Place in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is all gooey and melted.

Optional – Top with minced cilantro/oregano/parsley/ or chives and serve.

Alt: If you want to meat it up a bit for the carnivores in your life, add half a package of ground pork, chicken or beef to the onions while they’re cooking. Brown it off and continue with the next step.

Not the greatest photo but I wasn't expecting to be posting recipes when I originally took this picture. ;p